Love Dolls
by Kamie-Chan
Summary: Happy has managed to get his paws on Kain's Mr. Cursey dolls and has come up with a great idea to try and get Natsu and Lucy to finally become a couple! Will his plan work or will it backfire? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is my first Fairy Tail fanfiction~ I hope you like it. Apologies if I make mistakes, I haven't written anything in a long time! Please bare with me on this first part! Got carried away with the backstory hehe.

"Talking."

_'Thoughts.'_

**Disclaimer- I do not own Fairy Tail~ and the cover image is not mine, belongs to Hiro~  
**

* * *

**Love Dolls**

It was on the mystical Tenrou Island where we find our heroes locked in battle against the Seven Kin of Purgatory from Grimoire Heart. Several teams of Fairy Tail members had split up around the island to try and take down the members of the dark guild. Natsu, Lucy and Happy were up against the strange and overweight form of Kain Hikaru and his Mr. Cursey dolls. It had been a couple of hours since their fight began and it was getting tiresome. Kain had been ruthless when he managed to snag a strand of Lucy's hair to attach it to one of his dolls, effectively making her a giant ragdoll as she was forced to attack Natsu. After one too many insults thrown at Kain (from Natsu), he went berserk and decided to finish the battle using sheer strength alone.

Currently it was up to Lucy and Happy to defeat Kain as Natsu was presently half buried under a heavy pile of debris. As Lucy dodged another attack, she quickly threw a glance towards her partner to see how he was fairing. She saw him trying to wriggle out from underneath the rubble yet again, but it did not budge, he leveled the rocks with a frown.. _'At least he doesn't look too hurt.'_ If it were under different circumstances, Lucy would have found his pouting expression cute. Unfortunately they were in battle, and she was trying to dodge giant meaty fists aimed to crush her skull. She mentally sighed. '_Such a pity.'_

Since Kain was so focused on attacking Lucy he did not notice Happy diving down to steal the 'Lucy' doll from his belt until it was too late. Happy was sticking his tongue out at him as he dangled the doll tauntingly above Kain's head.

A sigh of relief escaped Lucy's lips, glad the doll was out of Kain's clutches. Now she wouldn't have to worry about being controlled by the cursed doll if he went back to using magic.

"G-give Mr. Cursey back before I crush you cat! Woo-wee!" Kain spat out as he tried to jump and reach the exceed, Happy quickly dodged back when Kain's hand nearly swatted him. He gripped the doll closer to his small chest.

"Wah! Natsu save me!" Happy wailed, as he flew towards the immobile dragon slayer.

"Why you little-" Kain bit out as he made an attempt to chase the cat. Not wanting him anywhere near Happy, Lucy quickly decided to distract him, she bent down and grabbed the nearest rock, eying him with a fierce glare.

"Hey jerk!" Lucy shouted as she threw the small rock towards him, it hit his head, but it did no damage. It did however, draw his attention away from Happy. _'Good.'_ "Your fight is with me." She growled out. On the outside she tried to appear ready for a fight, in reality, she could sense her magic was pretty much depleted, running solely on the last of her adrenaline rush. She highly doubted she was going to win this battle, but she would be damned if she didn't give it her all to protect her friends. As Kain drew closer she circled him, trying to formulate a plan of attack. They needed to defeat this guy soon. But_ how?_

A sudden bright flickering of light coming from her right hand caught her attention, as she glanced down towards it she immediately began freaking out.

Her hand was on _fire_.

"Ahh! My arm!" Lucy screeched in alarm, tears pouring out of her eyes as she tried to frantically wave the flames off. Only belatedly realizing that the flames were not hurting her at all, they was just...there. While trying to figure out what was happening she heard a giddy chuckle behind her, that sounded an awful lot like Natsu. She quickly glanced over her shoulder at him, noticing he was holding the 'Lucy' doll that Happy had stolen off Kain just moments ago. It wasn't hard to figure out who lit the doll's arm on fire. His onyx eyes glinting in childlike wonder as his gaze darted between her and the doll.

"It worked! That's a relief!" Natsu grinned at her. Her jaw dropped at his offhanded reaction, she lightly stomped her foot in indignation.

"But what happened if it didn't you dope!" Lucy cried, _not everyone was fireproof like him._ "My arm could have been bur-" She was cut off when she felt her body begin to shift upwards without her consent.

"Catch Happy!" Natsu called out as he tossed the doll back to the blue exceed, causing Lucy to also fly into the air with a squeal. "Use Max Speed!"

"Aye Sir!" Happy shouted as he flew up high activated his Aera magic, bringing Lucy along with him unwillingly. His wings glowed brilliantly as he began to fly downwards. Lucy could just make out Happy giggling as he quickly arranged the doll's pose. "Time for Lucy Fire!" The exceed cheered enthusiastically.

"Kyaaa! Stupid Cat!" Lucy screamed frantically as she was hurtled towards Kain with tremendous speed. Why did it seem she was the one always getting into such crazy scenarios!? Before she could curse her predicament and her crazy partners further she felt her boot made hard contact with Kain's chubby face, the force of her momentum smashing his face against the ground leaving a small crater. Standing up on wobbly legs she felt the exhaustion making its way into her sore limbs, but she was happy she was in control of her body again.

"Woo-wee..." Kain rasped out as he fell unconscious. Satisfied that he wasn't going to move anytime soon, Lucy rushed over to help Natsu, using the last of her magic energy to summon Taurus, the pervy bull made light work of the debris that had fallen on the dragon slayer, freeing him in rapid time.

Glad to be free of his rocky confinement, Natsu ran up to her and gave her a small one-armed hug. His eyes scanning over her to assess the damage Kain had done to her, a concerned frown appeared on his face. To be honest she was surprised she was still standing after such a long fight, her whole body ached and demanded rest. Not wanting to appear weak or worry him further, she mustered up a bright smile for him. He instantly returned it with his own boyish grin. His smile always seemed make her feel better. As she went to make a step, her leg wobbled and she began to topple over, warm arms instantly wrapped around her shoulders, preventing her from falling. Natsu seemed to always be there to catch her.

_'So much for not appearing weak though.'_ She let out a weak laugh.

"You okay?" Natsu asked. She nodded slowly, as if unsure. He observed her for a few moments, before crouching down in front of her, motioning to get on his back. Lucy cautiously crawled onto his back, locking her arms in front of him to secure herself. The warmth of his back seeped into her, while his smoky scent reached her nose, it was comforting. He slowly started to rise, briefly worrying he might drop her, she tensed. "Don't worry Luce. I got ya."He assured with an easy grin. Lucy was touched on how protective he was of her, and glad he couldn't see her face rival the shade of Erza's hair.

"Thanks Natsu." Lucy said softly, smiling against the crook of his neck, her lips lightly brushing over his warm skin by accident, he shuddered slightly from the touch. She raised a blonde brow, clearly not expecting that reaction, she wasn't imagining it right? A small spark of hope fluttered in her chest. She waited to see if he was going to do anything further, but all he did was reposition her legs so they were properly secure, then started walking without another word. Her mood deflated. _'Guess it was nothing afterall.'_

Happy was walking past the fallen form of Kain, still with the Lucy doll in his paw. As his eyes glanced over at Kain he spotted another cursed doll tucked in his belt. Without much thought Happy crept over and took it. Now normally he would never take things without permission (apart from that one time when he stole Virgo's celestial key from her previous owner), but they were so much fun! And besides, they were just dolls, surely Kain could just make more later so no harm done.

"Happy hurry up! We need to go meet up with the others!" Natsu called out to the small exceed.

"Aye!" Happy chimed, taking one last glance at the dolls, then stowed them in his knapsack with a grin.

It wouldn't hurt to keep them as a momento.

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**A/N:** That's it for the first part! Next part will be up soon! So what did you guys think? Please review~


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Woah thanks for the reviews/faves and follows guys! I'm glad you like the story so far! Let's hope I don't ruin it! :D

**Also this isn't the last part, I decided to break it up so the next chapter will be the last.**

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**Love Dolls**

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It was not long after when the incident of Achnologia reared its ugly head. But thanks to the guild's strong bond and the grand mystical powers of the first guild master, Mavis, she cast Fairy Sphere upon them that froze the guild members in time for seven years. After the seven year absence from the world, the guild members were eventually found and returned back to Magnolia, safe and unharmed thanks to the Blue Pegasus guild.

* * *

Three weeks after their return, the guild members of Fairy Tail found themselves enjoying an unusually peaceful day, that is until they sensed a foreboding sensation as they heard shouts from outside drawing closer. Soon enough the front doors opened swiftly to reveal a very angry Lucy, a tired Natsu and a happy...well...Happy.

"Natsu you idiot!" Lucy growled at the dragon slayer as she stomped inside the guild, said dragon slayer was slowly trailing in behind her. "I can't believe you beat up our client! I needed that money for rent!" Lucy complained. Natsu rolled his eyes at her, heaving an exasperated sigh. She had been yelling at him the entire trip home over the loss of her rent money. Admittedly, he was sorry about that, and would try to make it up to her, however, he did have a good reason for his violent outburst. Or at least he liked to think so.

"Geez, I said I was sorry already Luce!" He groaned out, his tone sounding anything but apologetic, because honestly, he was not sorry at all. "But he had it coming. He was acting all stupid and weird towards you..." he growled, "I didn't like it." Natsu huffed defensively, crossing his arms. Even the mere recollection of that guy ogling Lucy so blatantly made him want to go back there and fire punch him again for good measure.

Since returning from Tenrou Island, Natsu had finally begin to notice just how much attention Lucy got from the opposite gender. And he did not like it one bit. At first he was confused about the extra protectiveness he felt towards the blonde, as he wasn't like this with his other female nakama, but when it came to Lucy he was bordering on possessive. It did not take long to figure out his feelings towards the celestial maiden had shifted into something far more than platonic.

Oblivious to Natsu's internal monologue, Lucy had paused her walking to level him with a thoughtful stare, placing a slender finger against her lips, pondering over his statement.

"Well yeah, even though he was good looking, he was a creep." Lucy stated as she recalled his handsome features, but it irritated her to no end that the client stared at her chest the whole time he was briefing them of the mission (before Natsu pounced off his chair and punched him of course). She snapped out of her thoughts, "But I could have handled it myself if he tried anything!"

Natsu froze, his features darkening."You thought he was handsome!? Were you enjoying his attention then?" he asked incredulously, selectively hearing only the first part of her sentence.

"No I didn't enjoy it!" She growled out indignantly, her hands clenching by her sides. "Seriously Natsu, what's with the attitude!?" She demanded. Staring into his onyx orbs she noticed they were a mix between anger and something foreign, an expression that did not belong on Natsu's face, ever. Curiosity was nagging at her. What was with that look? She wanted to decipher it but was afraid she would get her hopes up again by over-thinking things.

Natsu opened his mouth to retort but promptly shut it. He was about to let slip that he didn't want her acknowledging the appearance of other guys (regardless of who they were). The only guy he wanted her to think was good looking was himself. Wait... did she even find _him_ attractive? He paused, feeling a rare moment of self consciousness, it felt inexplicably weird. Trying to distract himself from his thoughts, he sharply turned away from her and stalked towards the bar.

"Oi Flame-brain! When are you gonna stop being such an idiot!?" Gray called out when Natsu walked passed where the ice mage was seated. Natsu instantly bristled at his insult, clenching his fists.

"Shut it Snowflake! Not in the mood to deal with you today." He growled, sending Gray a baleful glare but continued to the bar. "Kinana! Gimme a fire whiskey." He called out.

Lucy watched him from where she was standing with an angry pout, wondering what the heck had gotten into him lately. Considering he had just ignored what would normally be an instigation for a brawl between him and Gray, something was off. Those two _always_ fought. A head of blue approaching her brought her out of her thoughts to come face to face with her best friend, Levy. The solid script mage placed a petite hand on her shoulder, giving her a small comforting smile before she spoke.

"Lu-Chan, you shouldn't be mad...he was probably just trying to protect you." Levy soothed, trying to placate her blonde friend, it seemed to be working. "You know you're the most precious person to him." The petite woman's eyes shone with kindness and understanding, all too aware of Lucy's feelings towards the fire dragon slayer.

"Riiiiight, I'm his 'precious _nakama_' afterall." Lucy sighed as she looked at the ground. "He's too _dense_ to ever think about something like romance Levy." She said quietly.

"I dunno..." The bluenette trailed off, looking over to Natsu sagging in his chair before she turned back to Lucy. Her eyebrows and mouth raised in a sly as she leaned towards the blonde in a conspiratorial manner. "When you mentioned that guy's appearance Natsu looked like he was jealous to me." She sang, a hint a teasing was laced in her soft voice.

Lucy would have loved nothing more than to believe her, but a stubborn part of her brain refused to have 'Natsu' and 'jealous' in the same sentence. She hated that part of her brain. Her heart on the other hand, wanted to latch on to every shred of hope it could grasp onto, where Natsu might see her more than just a friend. Why you ask? Simple.

Because she loved the pink haired idiot.

_'Stop it Lucy! Don't think anymore about your hopeless love-life.'_ Her stomach growled and for once she welcomed the sound of something to distract her thoughts. She didn't realize how hungry she was! Giving Levy a quick hug, Lucy made her way to the bar she noticed the only vacant seat was, ironically, beside Natsu. _'Of course it was.' _When she approached the seat she saw he was frowning as he drank his fire whiskey, pointedly refusing to look at her. Waving down Kinana she ordered a chocolate milkshake and a sandwich as she sat down, the bar maiden smiled sweetly to her then went to prepare her order. There was an awkward tension between the duo while she waited for her meal, tapping her fingers against the bench nervously. The typically rambunctious dragon slayer remained abnormally quiet beside her, it did not suit him. She shifted in her seat, resisting the urge to sneak a glance at him.

_'Maybe just a quick peek'_ she thought to herself as she discreetly turned her head.

Chocolate eyes met onyx.

Lucy fought down a blush at getting caught but her stare remained on him. She noted his eyes didn't hold as much anger as they did before, it was now more of a sulk than anything else but his frown still in place. A few seconds later Natsu broke their gaze and crossed his arms on the bar ledge in front of him, placing his head down and faced away from her, closing his eyes. The way he acted reminded her of when someone presented Happy with just regular cat food instead of raw fish. Her eyes narrowed.

So he was going to keep sulking was he?

Her eyebrows twitched at his childish attitude and swiveled her chair so her back was facing him. _'Two can play that game!'_ She thought stubbornly with a huff. Kinana returned with her order and Lucy all but snatched up her sandwich, taking angry bites. Making quick work of her food she decided to distract herself from thinking about him, pulling out a book from her bag she began to read.

Beside her, Natsu kept his eyes closed but his ears trained on her form. Even when they were bickering, he could not help but be aware of every little thing she did. Since the very first time they met she always piqued his interest, she was weird, but in a good way. His ears caught the sound of a page being turned was heard, followed by a huff that he couldn't help but find adorable.

From their close proximity it was unavoidable that her vanilla scent invaded his nostrils. His foul mood ebbed away, replaced by a sense of longing, he inconspicuously took a deeper sniff. He loved her scent. He wouldn't admit it aloud but it was his most favorite, even more than fire food. It was one of the reasons he loved appearing at her house at any opportune moment to hang out or sleep in her comfy bed (much to her embarrassment), her home was bathed in _her_ scent and it made him feel comfortable and happy, and dare he say, it _felt_ _like home_. And he was going to continue to beat up any weirdo that tried to take that away from him. Lucy was _his_.

So why couldn't he just tell her that he loved her already?

It is true that Natsu was dense when it came to a lot of things, that he would begrudgingly admit, romance was no different. Sure, he realized that he was _in love_ his partner, but he had absolutely no clue on how to approach her about it. Igneel never got to that part in his teachings. He could always ask a guild member, but who? He began to make a mental checklist. Gray? _'When hell freezes over!'_ Erza? He suppressed a shiver. Gajeel? _'No way!'_ Wendy? _'She was probably as innocently clueless as he was.'_ The other girls? _'They would gossip and most likely just embarrass him, especially Mirajane.'_ Happy?_ '...it was a long shot but Happy has never lead him astray before.'_

But wait...

If he was to tell her, what if Lucy did not return his feelings because _she wasn't interested_ in him? Comparing himself to her previous dates he was nothing like the pretty boys, he wasn't her type. If he told her and she said no it might put an awkward strain on their teamwork, he didn't want that to happen. His chest hurt from the thought of her possible rejection, it hurt more than when Erza punches him to 'help' him travel on trains. _'Urgh! Love was so confusing!'_

Maybe a nap would settle his nerves. '_Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.'_ So with one final inhale of her lovely scent he promptly fell asleep shortly after.

* * *

Meanwhile, several meters away from the duo, several sets of eyes watched them exasperatedly from their seats.

"Honestly..." Mirajane sighed out, shaking her head at the duo as she served the other Fairy Tail members their orders.

"I wish they would just get together already, it's obvious to everyone but themselves on how much they like each other." Cana said matter-of-factly as she downed yet another keg of ale.

"They are pretty slow at confessing their feelings." Erza deadpanned, taking a bite of her strawberry cheesecake.

"Especially flame for brains. He's such a moron." Gray muttered out as he took another sip of his drink, suddenly without a shirt as he leaned back into his seat.

"Gray-sama your clothes!" Juvia chimed as she eyed him in admiration. Gray looked down and softly cursed, noticing he was clad in nothing but his stripped boxers. He got up from his seat with an irritated grumble as he began to search around for his abandoned clothing.

Happy looked at his partners with down-turned ears as he sat under the table. He agreed with his fellow guild members that they should be together, but there wasn't much that could be done. As his stomach growled he decided to distract himself with a tasty fish. He reached behind him to grab a fish from his bag but his paw was met with air. Strange, he was sure he packed a fish this morning. Did he already eat it? With a small pout Happy untied his pack to place it in front of him to search thoroughly. He dug his paw further into his knapsack, feeling around he came across something foreign that felt nothing like his precious fish. Retrieving the objects he was surprised to find the Mr. Cursey dolls. His eyes went wide in recognition.

He had completely forgotten he took them! Sniffing them cautiously he could still sense Kain's magic imbued into the dolls, albeit it was only a small amount.

"It's such a shame! They would make such an adorable couple! Maybe they need just the right push." Mirajane sighed wistfully as she cuddled the empty drink tray to her chest, no doubt imagining little Natsu's and Lucy's running around. A soft smile spread across her face at the thought before she returned to the bar to help Kinana tend to their patrons.

Happy's ears perked up at Mira's statement as he glanced up to where Lucy and Natsu were seated then flickered back to the dolls in his paws, a brilliant plan formulating into his mind.

Maybe he could help afterall.

He grinned.

Though in order to not be found out (and not get into trouble), he had to try and be smart about this. Lucy was obviously awake so if he used her doll she would find out and most likely try to punish him. She was scary when she got really mad. So his best chance was to use Natsu, glad that the dragon slayer was asleep, since Natsu was a deep sleeper so he wouldn't wake up from whatever Happy had planned for him.

But wait.

There was something missing he needed in order for this to work.

A strand of Natsu's hair.

Happy hid the dolls again as eyes traveled over to his sleeping friend then around the table, wondering if anyone would catch him. They seemed pretty intent on their conversation, so that was a good sign, but the exceed still needed to be sneaky about this, like a ninja! _'Nin Nin!'_ He quietly crept out from underneath the table, summoning his wings once he was a few feet away as he made his way towards his friend.

Much to his relief, no one paid attention to the blue exceed as he flew down next to the fire dragon slayer. He raised his eyes to Lucy and noticed she was still absorbed in her book. _Good_. As nonchalantly as possible he lifted up a paw to Natsu's hair, as predicted, the sleeping mage did not stir. Happy moved his paw to make it look like he was patting his friend while he picked up a lose pink hair strand._ 'Aye! He did it!'_

Summoning his wings again he flew over to an empty table, hiding under it so his actions could be kept hidden from his fellow guild mates. Bringing out the doll with no hair, he attached the pink strand, now making it the 'Natsu' doll.

_'Aye! It's done! Time to test it out!'_ He grinned determinedly as he began to move the 'Natsu' doll's hand.

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Lucy was brought out of her reading when she felt a small weight against her back. Craning her head to peer back she saw, to her embarrassment and surprise it was Natsu's hand. '_W-what the-? He's touching me?'_ Her chocolate orbs traveled over to his mane of pink hair to question his actions, but he was still faced away from her, eyes closed. Raising a blonde brow in confusion. _'Wait. Is he asleep?'_ Apparently not it seemed as his hand began to move up and down against her back slowly, almost sluggishly. A blush began to form on her pretty face as she hid her face in her book, not wanting anyone to see how much his touch affected her. The warmth from his hand was soothing and left a tingling sensation everywhere he touched, and she loved it. She wondered what brought on the sudden interaction, but she wasn't going to complain.

_'Maybe he's just being shy? Is he trying to apologize?'_ She mused, resisting a giggle. _'He could be so adorable sometimes.'_ Smiling to herself she relaxed and let him continue.

Happy was grinning to himself at the scene in front of him. It was working! Lucy was happy! If this worked out he decided he should reward himself with a giant stack of fish! After several minutes of the 'backrub' Lucy still seemed to be enjoying it, but maybe he needed to do more? His eyes narrowed in concentration.

What else could he do though? The small exceed was not experienced in human romance.

He was just a cat afterall.

As he wracked his brain to think of something his ears twitched at loud footsteps that drew near.

"Oi runt, whatcha got there?" Came a low gruff voice. The blue exceed turned his head to find the large form of Gajeel crouched down beside him, staring at the dolls in his paws. The man raised a studded eyebrow in amusement towards the cat. "You playin' with dolls?"

Happy paused, briefly wondering if he would get into trouble but seeing as it was Gajeel it was highly unlikely. As Happy opened his mouth his eyes darted back to Lucy and noticed she shifted in her chair._ 'Ah no! Don't move yet!'_ Happy mentally panicked, quickly returning the 'Natsu's' doll hand onto her back. Happy sighed in relief when Lucy stopped moving to relax once more. The feline lowered his voice as he returned to speak to Gajeel.

"Aye, these are the Mr. Cursey dolls I took from Kain on Tenrou Island. If you put a strand of someone's hair onto the doll you can control them." Happy explained lowly. "I'm trying to help Natsu and Lucy become a couple but I don't know what to do next." He whispered sadly.

A thoughtful look appeared on Gajeel's face as he processed the information.

"Is that so?" He mused, his ruby eyes glanced over to Natsu and Lucy then back to the dolls, a spark of mischief in his eyes. "Give em here. I'll help." Gajeel beckoned his hands towards the dolls. At first Happy was reluctant, as if debating something. Surely he could trust the iron dragon slayer, he would know more about this than he did. Plus he was still a bit scared of Gajeel, his eyes were intimidating! After a few moments he motioned for Gajeel to gently take the dolls, telling him not to move them too much so the oblivious duo wouldn't notice. Once Gajeel had the dolls in his hands he was ready to 'help.'

_'Oh how I'm gonna enjoy this.'_ Gajeel grinned wickedly as began to move the Natsu doll's arm.

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**A/N:** Dun dun dunnnnnn! Oh my! What's Gajeel going to do? Find out in the last chapter! Please review~


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hey guys! Here's the last chapter! I hope you like it! SO SORRY for the wait! ;-;  
And thanks to everyone who have reviewed/faved/followed this story!

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**Love Dolls**

* * *

Lucy was in heaven.

The blonde mage never knew how much a backrub could feel so blissful! Or it was the fact that it was Natsu who was doing it, and she was letting him. Loke had offered several times but she had always politely refused, as the spirit could get very handsy sometimes. As she took a sip of her milkshake she focused on the tips of his calloused fingers as they grazed against exposed flesh, she suppressed a pleasant shiver. Natsu's hands were interesting, one moment they could be set on fire and pummel the enemy into a burning pulp and now this.

_'Maybe he does like me afterall.'_ The celestial maiden thought hopefully. She was so very tempted to turn around and confront him about it but there was still a small worry of doubt. _'Just enjoy it. Try to think out feelings later.'_

Noticing his hand was now trailing down to her lower back, she tensed briefly with a blush, as he nearly went too low, but relaxed when she felt his hand went back up to her shoulders. However soon enough his hand returned down lower.

And lower.

And _lower._

Lucy choked on her drink, her eyes wide in shock.

_'Did he just touch my-'_

Glancing behind her she hesitantly looked down.

Yes. _Yes he did_.

"N-Natsu!?" Lucy choked out, turning around to punch his shoulder. "Where do you think you're touching!?" She hissed out in embarrassment.  
The blonde mage was all too aware that they were inside the guild and she could feel more than several sets of eyes that were now trained on them. Noticing their friends were very interested at the scene in front of them, surprised but amused smirks on all of their faces. Oh sweet Mavis Levy was wiggling her eyebrows suggestively towards her. That was not helping! A wicked blush burned the blonde's face as Natsu shifted beside her with a pained groan.

"Ow. What was that for Luce!? W-what's going on?" Natsu slurred out. Still half asleep, he let out a yawn as went to rub the residue of sleep from his eyes. Instantly noticing something amiss. _'Huh?' Why can't my left arm move?'_ He twitched said hand's fingers experimentally, feeling something soft covered in fabric. It felt nice actually. _'Wait...what the-'_ Lucy let out a shriek beside him as she punched him yet again.

"Don't play dumb Natsu! That is clearly YOUR hand on my ass!" The celestial maiden accused, her chocolate eyes narrowed dangerously.

He stared at her blankly and tilted his head in confusion at her statement before slowly looking down her body._ 'What is she talking about? There is no way I am groping her-'_

What.

The.

_Hell._

His hand _was_ on her ass.

Natsu's face instantly went beet red as he sputtered out an apology. With a rare fluster and frenzied panic, he tried to snatch his hand away, but it seemed the appendage had other ideas...

Because his hand would not budge from its spot.

_'Why the hell isn't my hand moving!?'_ He thought frantically as tried to move it again. Did somebody glue his hand onto Lucy while he was sleeping? Surely he would have noticed that...

"I knew it! Oh my!" Mirajane cooed out.

"Hehe, you were right sis!" Lisanna stated beside her sister.

"Now that's a man's way of getting attention!" Elfman cheered out to him. Natsu whipped his head towards the hulking man and glared, extremely tempted to throw a fireball at the take-over mage because that type of statement was not helping his predicament _at all_.

"Remove your hand or I will!" Lucy threatened. It was obvious that she was just as embarrassed as he was but there was no denying the dark ominous aura that radiated off her in waves. He suppressed a shudder. Hell hath no fury like an angry celestial mage.

_'Trust me Luce, I would love nothing more than to remove it so you don't kill me, but-'_

"I can't!" He groaned.

Obviously not believing that statement, Lucy tried to pry his hand from its position. Much to both of their chagrin his hand remained firmly in place, both of their faces getting redder by the second.

Natsu was currently fearing for his life that she was going to make good on her threat and Lucy Kick him at any given moment. Lucy really was as scary as Erza when she wanted to be.

Feeling a stare on his back, Natsu turned his head to meet the dark eyes of Gray, full of unbridled amusement. It was quite obvious to say that Gray was enjoying this immensely, his smirk was so huge it threatened to break his face at any moment. Or if Natsu could move from his spot, he could break Gray's face instead, you know, to help him out. But no, the dragon slayer could not move as his hand still remained stubbornly in place, so all Natsu could do was glare daggers at the ice mage.

_'I should have punched the stripper back when I had the chance.'_

"Natsu..." Finally having enough of being made a spectacle, Lucy went to move out of her chair but was instantly halted by an unseen force.

Lucy's legs wouldn't move.

Her eyes grew wide as she tried to move again but was met with the same result. _'What the-!?'_

"I swear I'm not doing this on purpose!" Natsu cried out, interrupting Lucy's inner panic, as he used his other hand to grip firmly onto the non-moving appendage to try and pry it off her, to no avail. For extra emphasis he raised his leg to brace against her seat to see if it gave him better leverage to pull back. It did absolutely nothing. 'Sweet Mavis could this be any more embarrassing!?'

Happy stood frozen in shock at the scene in front of him. What was Gajeel doing!? That did not look like 'helping!' He was making things worse! Recovering from his shock, the exceed tugged hard against the iron dragon slayer's arm in protest, though since Gajeel was far stronger than him so the arm did not budge. "Gajeel! Stop!" Happy whined, but the little cat was ignored.

"Gihihi." Gajeel grinned to himself, impressed by his handiwork. All he had to do now is sit back and watch the Bunny Girl beat the crap out of Salamander. Knowing full well the Flaming Idiot wouldn't fight back, since he loves the woman after all, making him completely defenseless against her onslaught. Gajeel could have used the Lucy doll to make her punch or kick him, but that wouldn't have been as fun, that and he just loved messing with Salamander.

"Well, my work here is done." Gajeel announced lowly with a smirk as he stood up, he tossed the dolls back down to Happy and made his way back to his previous seat to watch the scene. The blue exceed did not expect the sudden throw from Gajeel so Happy had caught the dolls clumsily in his paws, juggling them accidentally before he finally managed a firm grip.

The chain reaction from the dolls to their human counterparts found Lucy and Natsu bouncing around between their seats comically before crashing into each other onto the floor in a tangled heap with a loud thud.

Natsu groaned from the impact as his head hit the floor and the added weight of Lucy on top of him it was hard to focus again. Seriously what the hell was going on today? Natsu noticed there was a pressure pressed against his face, it felt soft and squishy._ 'This feels oddly familiar.'_ He cracked his eyes open and saw...white and blue? It took a moment to register that his face was smothered into Lucy's ample chest.

"That's a very bold tactic." Erza stated approvingly with a small nod.

"What are Natsu-Nii and Lucy-Nee-san doing?" Wendy asked innocently.

"Don't look Wendy!" Carla ordered, flying up to shield Wendy's eyes with her dainty paws.

"No more love rival!" Juvia cheered happily.

"Oww..." Lucy gasped out.

The amount of times this scenario has happened to the both of them over the years should have made him immune to her voluptuous chest by now. Heck, many of his nakama would joke and laugh at them when this happened, usually saying something along the lines of _'Lucky it's just Natsu, he's too dense to realize what's going on! Am I right?'_

Right?

**Wrong!**

_'Okay, when I was younger I wouldn't bat an eye, but give me some credit, I'm eighteen years old!'_

It also didn't help that he was in love with the woman on top of him.

He groaned, but quickly stopped when he heard her squeak above him. _'Luce feels really nice this close...'_

Natsu mentally swore at himself for thinking that way, feeling his face heat up rapidly. Stupid hormones!

Oh Mavis, she needed to get off him now before his mind (or his out of control hands and body) wanders further into dangerous territory. _'C'mon think, say something! Be smart for once.'_

"Wufy...eurr evvy!" Came his muffled 'oh-so-intelligent' remark, he mentally face-palmed. _'Smart. Real smart.'_

"Shut it Natsu!" Lucy growled above him as she struggled to move.

Lucy must have been too focused on her anger to think her actions through as she start to writhe against him, because unbeknownst to her, she was pressing her chest and hips further into him.

Natsu froze, not daring to move an inch. Did she not realize what she was doing?

And people said he was dense.

Natsu suppressed another groan. This had to be both the most wonderful and the most horrible torture he has ever had to endure. _'Okay gotta stop my thoughts there before I do something. Even though she feels really good-'_ Her chest pressed closer. _'Gah Lucy! Stop! Okay, don't think of her body pressed against-'_ She wiggled her hips slightly. _'Damn it!'_ He scrunched his eyes closed while trying to compose himself, hoping that certain parts of his body wouldn't react, but she was making it very difficult for the Salamander to concentrate.

_'Please Luce...for the love of sweet Mavis stop wriggling around. Just wait it out until whatever this is wears off.'_ He silently pleaded to the woman above him.

His pleas were left unanswered.

* * *

Lucy was mad.

No, scratch that. Lucy was positively furious as she struggled to remove herself from Natsu. She was getting really tired of not being in control of her body.

This whole ordeal had been probably one of the most embarrassing things she had ever been involved in, and that's saying a lot considering her guild and its crazy shenanigans. She wanted to blame Natsu but finally thinking back on his reactions, it seemed he was just as much a victim as she was, guilt washed over her that she had hit him earlier. But she will Lucy kick whoever is behind this!

This had to be some kind of prank. They were being toyed and tossed around, like ragdolls.

Dolls...

_'Wait...'_

Lucy stopped moving as she suddenly thought back to Tenrou Island. The thought wheels in her mind slowly clicking together. She heard a sigh of relief coming from Natsu but she ignored it. Come to think of it, this whole situation was exactly like Kain's magic. She mentally hit herself for her slow observation.

How did she not realize until just now?! Does that mean Kain was around? Surely not as everyone would be on the offensive instead of being here and laughing at her expense. But if it wasn't Kain...

That must mean that someone else was using the dolls, and that someone was nearby. She angled her head so she could look around the guild members, trying to source the dolls. _'Where could they be...'_

A blob of blue caught her attention, half hidden underneath a table.

Happy.

The small feline stood a few meters away, frozen in his spot, his eyes were wide. When their eyes met he stared at her, then back down into his hands. She followed his stare and saw the dolls laying innocently in his paws, he gave her a sheepish giggle.

_'Happy had the dolls!? Why that little-'_ Her glare worsened. Noticing her furious gaze the feline's ears quickly flattened against his skull in fear. He was in for it now...

"You damn cat! Wait til I get my hands on you! I'm gonna pull your whiskers off!" The celestial mage threatened.

"W-what!?" Happy bulked from her threat before he tried to defend himself. "I didn't do that! Gajeel did! Uwah Lucy's scary!" The little Exceed wailed and dropped the dolls as he summoned his wings and fled to the second floor out of harm's way. The dolls did not move much from their previous position so there was less impact when Lucy and Natsu's bodies thudded against each other. Lucy however was too livid to notice as she took a deep breath.

_'So Natsu's affectionate touches were involuntary!? Happy and Gajeel were the ones to make fun of my feelings?'_ Lucy felt so upset she did not know whether to scream her lungs out at the two or hide somewhere and cry. She had really hoped that Natsu was giving her a clue as to what he felt towards her and for them to play with her heart and feelings like that, it hurt. Refusing to let any tears fall she summoned all her fury and glared at the guild.

"Someone remove the hair from the dolls! Now!" Lucy yelled. The guild members that were previously laughing at the display now scurried across the building to locate the dolls, fearing Lucy's temper. Natsu's ears perked up at what Lucy was yelling about.

_'Dolls? What is she talking about? What about Gajeel?'_ He mulled over, still slightly disorientated from his head hitting the ground yet again. Today was not a good day for his cranium.

Lucy did not see who picked up the dolls but felt through her magic when her hair was removed from the doll. No longer feeling a massive weight on her shoulders she instantly sprung off from Natsu as if he burnt her, he wheezed from the impact and slowly stood up as Lucy dusted herself off.

As she peered around the guild and noticed her glare must be pretty severe as no one dared approach her or make any comments. _'Good.'_ As she turned they practically jumped out of her way as she stomped towards the guild doors.

"Luce-" Natsu began, she could hear the confusion in his voice. But she chose to ignore him, she needed to get out of there.

So without another word, Lucy flung open the doors and ran out of the guild.

Natsu stood there in uncharacteristic silence, staring after her, as did the rest of the guild. Lucy ignoring him like that felt like she kicked him in the gut. Sure that was extremely embarrassing and the guild will talk all about it once Lucy calms down, but was she that repulsed by being so close to him? He had no idea what to do. Should he go after her? The look on her face clearly said she wanted to be left alone. But he didn't want what just transpired to mar and jeopardize their partnership. Natsu was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Happy fly down beside him and hug his leg like a child.

"I-I'm sorry Natsu!" Happy wailed, tears streaming down his face as he looked pitifully up to the pinkette. "I just wanted to help you guys become a couple." The feline sobbed out as he nuzzled his face further into Natsu's leg.  
"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked, waiting for Happy to try and compose his crying to explain.  
"The Mr. Cursey dolls, I took them back when we were figthing Kain back on Tenrou Island. But Gajeel took them saying he would help. I didn't know he'd do that! Honest!"

_'Ahh those dolls...'_ Natsu nodded in understanding as he crouched down and placed a hand on Happy's head.

"Don't worry about it bud, okay?" Natsu tried to sound as soothing as possible as he pet Happy's head gently. "I'm gonna try and sort this out." Though he had no idea how he was going to fix this mess up. He just hoped Lucy would still talk to him now, even though it was not his fault. As he turned to make his way out of the guild he spotted a pair of red eyes and glared towards them. "And you," Natsu growled lowly, "I trust Levy to deal with you." As he stared meaningfully towards the petite mage, she nodded in understanding. Satisfied with Gajeel's impending punishment he turned and walked out of the guild towards a certain little house on Strawberry Street.

* * *

Night time had fallen not long after Lucy returned to her cozy apartment. She tried to distract herself by trying to write more of her novel to no avail. Her pen gripped tightly in her hand as it hovered over the paper, poised and ready to write but she could not concentrate. Her mind kept replaying what happened over and over like a nightmarish record that made her cheeks burn crimson in both embarrassment and in anger. Clenching her jaw she threw her pen onto her desk and covered her face with her palms. This was getting her nowhere.

"Stupid Gajeel, Stupid Happy...Stupid Natsu." The blonde muttered. What she needed right now was a distraction or something to soothe her rattled nerves. _'A bath sounds good.'_ She decided as she made her way to her bathroom.

* * *

_'So...now what do I do?'_

That question had been repeating itself in Natsu's mind as he paced outside of Lucy's apartment, feeling at a loss on how to approach her. His hands went between nervously fidgeting with his scarf and grabbing fistfuls of pink hair in indecisiveness. What do people normally do in this scenario? Should he knock? He looked towards the mahogany door. Lucy would refuse to answer let alone allow him to come inside. But if he went with his normal approach and climbed in through her window there was an extremely high chance she was going to yell at him. Though she would not be able ignore him if he was already in her room. His onyx eyes glanced up towards her bedroom.

Window it is.

Natsu jumped with practiced ease up towards her bedroom window, as he had done so many times in the past. The pinkette was surprised Lucy still had her window open as he grabbed the window's ledge and hoisted himself up, trying to be as quiet as he could. There was a faint flickering glow of a lone candle that was on her desk, but looking around the room was empty, he was relieved she was not in the room when he entered. The sound of splashing water and the scent of her soaps notified Natsu of Lucy's whereabouts as he spotted another light source that was coming out from the bottom of the bathroom door.

Natsu may not be the smartest guy around but he was not dumb enough to just barge in there...this time. So he cautiously made his way towards her bed and sat down, tapping his fingers against her pink blanket nervously as he thought over what he was going to say.

Now he had to do something he always hated to do, be patient.

Natsu's eyes glanced towards the clock, thanks to his heightened eyesight he could make out a few minutes had already passed. The sound of the bathwater draining and a towel being picked up drew his eyes towards the bathroom door, he sucked in a deep breath to clam his nerves. The bathroom door opened and he straightened up from his position. Lucy was clad in her purple pajamas as she stepped onto the wooden floor, a towel covering most of her head as it looked as if she was towel drying her hair. She hadn't spotted him yet he noticed, he could quickly escape if he wanted but quickly shook his head at the thought. He was not going to be a coward about this.

_'Okay this is it, you're going to explain to her that you l-'_

Natsu watched as she removed the towel from her face and turned on the light. She screamed instinctively, clearly not expecting someone else to be in her room as she grasped her shirt, looking as if she had a mini heart attack. "Natsu!?" She wheezed out. Her shock soon became a glare as she pointed an accusatory finger at him. "What have I told you about breaking in here!?" The celestial mage yelled.

"I didn't break anything this time I swear!" Natsu defended. Lucy deadpanned at him, clearly not amused by that answer and let out an aggravated sigh.

"You are missing the point...go away or I'll call Erza." She threatened. He paled slightly.

Sensing he was messing up he held up his hands trying to calm her down.

"N-no! Luce please... about before-" Natsu began but was interrupted when she raised one of her own hands to silence him as she leaned against a wall, letting out another sigh. He noticed her anger was starting to dissipate so that was a start.

"Can we just forget about it okay? It was really embarrassing and I never want to speak of it again." The blonde pleaded as she crossed her arms though he could just faintly make out a blush across her face.

Natsu nervously rubbed the back of his neck, feeling warmth spread to his face as well. He nervously let out a shaky laugh. "Well yeah it was pretty embarrassing, but-"

"Besides...I know you don't see me that way." Lucy muttered, her chocolate orbs were glued to the ground beside her feet. She said it softly but his hearing picked it up. She sounded sad about that. _'Did she mean?'_

"What?" He stared at her incredulously. A tiny part of him sparked up with hope. He wanted her to look at him but her eyes remained on the floor. She played with the hem of her shirt, clearly embarrassed again.

"You know..." She began, trying to find the right words. "Being that close to me...touching me that way."

"I liked touching you though." Natsu blurted out without thinking. His brain only registering too late he just admitted that aloud. Lucy's eyes snapped up to his.

"You perv!"

"What? No!" The pinkette backpedaled. "That's not what I meant!" He tried as he grabbed handfuls of his hair in frustration."Urgh!" He truly regretted not learning more words from Levy to use to try and soothe this situation, because obviously he is just digging himself further into a grave. That or Lucy could summon Virgo to do it.

Yes, Natsu was not one to rely on words, he was better at taking action. So with as much courage as he could muster he stood up and walked straight up to her, she stared at him like a deer in headlights, but she did not move away.

"Natsu?" Lucy squeaked out when he gently grasped her shoulders and drew him against his chest, enveloping her in a hug. She stood stiffly in place for a few moments and he feared that he had gotten the wrong impression afterall and was about to mentally beat himself up when he felt her arms tentatively wrap around his torso. Natsu felt her lift her head up and he looked down into her chocolate orbs. He could not help but find her expression adorable, her face was a pretty red and her eyes shone with so much emotion but none he deemed were negative. She looked...hopeful. His throat became dry and he quickly swallowed.

It was now or never.

"I like you Luce." Natsu confessed, her eyes grew wider until he shook his head seconds later. "No wait, that sounds wrong."

"What-!" She snapped.

"I love you Luce!" Natsu grinned at her and before she said anything else he bent down and pressed his lips down onto hers. Inwardly Natsu was scared as hell as he did not know what he was doing as he never kissed a girl before (and Happy does not count!), but it didn't take long for Lucy to relax further in his embrace and kiss him back. Her lips were extremely soft he observed as they finally drew apart for air. "Yup, love sounds better." He nodded smugly to himself. The blonde was silent for a few moments before she spoke again.

"I-I love you too Natsu." When he looked down towards the blonde in his arms he was in awe at the loving smile she was giving him, her eyes reflected so much warmth he swore it was tangible. Lucy felt the same way he did and he could not be anymore happier than he was right now even if he tried.

"Does this mean we're boyfriend and girlfriend?" Natsu asked hopefully, she smiled.

"Obviously yes you dope." Lucy laughed lightly then kissed him on the cheek. When she yawned moments after he realized it was getting pretty late. They broke apart and she made her way to her bed and crawled under the covers.

"So..." Natsu began as he looked between Lucy and her very comfortable bed, "does that mean I can sleep in bed with you every night?"

"Don't you try and do that anyway?" She mused as she pulled back the blankets to offer Natsu the empty space. He practically jumped into it, making them both bounce slightly, earning a giggle from the blonde. He couldn't help fight his grin from spreading further as he got comfortable. She placed the blankets over him while he turned to face her with a raised eyebrow.

"True. But now that we're together you can't freak out in the mornings and Lucy kick me."

"I'll try not too." She teased.

"Good!" He chirped, wrapping his arms around her to draw her closer. "Night Luce." Giving Lucy a goodnight kiss which she was more than happy to reciprocate. After breaking apart she sighed happily and nuzzled against him. He was content.

They were finally together and Lucy loved him! Guess Happy and Gajeel really did help. But Natsu wasn't a perv! Honest! He squeezed her tighter against him.

"N-Natsu!" She squeaked when she felt his hand. He smirked into her shoulder.

Okay, maybe he was just a _little._

* * *

The following day when Natsu and Lucy walked inside the guild holding hands, they were met with knowing smiles and cheerful shouts of congratulations.

"They liiiiiike each other~!" Lisanna trilled.

"Good job Natsu-Nii!" Romeo and Wendy called out.

"I congratulate you both on your relationship."

"Thanks guys!" Natsu grinned widely, snaking his hand around Lucy's waist to bring her against his side. Lucy felt something poking her leg so she looked down to see a very apologetic blue exceed holding out a raw fish to her.

"I'm sorry Lucy..." Happy apologized. Lucy smiled down towards the feline and scratched under his ears.

"You silly cat, I forgive you. Though I'm not hungry so can you eat that fish for me?" Lucy asked.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"Lu-Chan I'm so happy for you!" Levy squealed as she hugged her friend. A gruff looking Gajeel closely behind her, looking over at the new Fairy Tail couple.

"Guess messing with those dolls did give you guys the push you needed. Gihihi." He smirked, but one look from the solid script mage wiped the smirk from his face. It was amusing how much power such a petite woman had on such an intimidating guy.

"Come to think of it...where did the dolls disappear to? I haven't seen them since-" Lucy wondered aloud.

"What the-!"

"Kyaa! G-Gray-Sama!?" Juvia squealed ecstatically.

All heads turned towards the water mage to find her pressed up against Gray's naked torso, with his arms tightly wrapped around her. It would have been romantic if it wasn't for Grays shocked and confused expression, however that did not cover up the fact that his face was red. Juvia looked like she was going to melt into a puddle at any second.

Natsu on the other hand burst out laughing, clenching his sides as tears of mirth ran down his face. "Serves you right Stripper!"

Raising her hands to her hips Lucy turned towards a certain blue feline. "Happy..." She trailed off in a accusing tone.

"Aye? Not me! I'm eating a fish." Happy stated, and true to his words his paws were wrapped around a half-eaten fish. He took another bite, chewing with his mouth open. Carla turned her nose up at Happy's lack of table manners.

"Gajeel?"

"Don't look at me Bunny Girl, I ain't got them." He stated as he crossed his arms.

"Then who..." Levy trailed off.

Overhearing the two previous miscreants weren't the cause for his current predicament, Gray quickly glared around the room trying to source the culprit. He found her within seconds standing behind the bar, smiling innocently at him with the dolls in her hands.

"MIRA!"

**Fin.**

* * *

**A/N:** Just had to add a little of meddling Mira.

So what did you think? I hope I went in the right direction :'D I might go back and edit as I feel I've made quite a few mistakes and my writing is quite rusty so need to redo some parts. First fic I've finished wah I need to work on the others.


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